Winning_BlueRX8

Man I hate to hear that. I've had similar bad things happen to my 8 when I was having it serviced. The problem is those mechanics get paid peanuts, and a lot of them are still teenagers! At least in my experience. They just don't make enough to give a ****, or they're too young to care.

grogiefrog

No, you don't want them to fill it... a body man will need to pop it out and repaint. Make them get you a rental car until they can fix everything right. If you haven't already, start taking pictures. Sorry man.

f1michel

This is not a chat room, please try to write in full sentences and use words. Am i the only one finding this annoying?

stangmatt66

Sounds like a typical day at a Mazda dealership...I feel your pain man...

boothguy

An experience like yours is what led me to start working on my own cars many long years ago. I get that not everyone has the interest/ aptitude/ space/ tools, but it's an illustration.

I think a big part of the problem is something called the Flat Rate Manual, which tells dealers and shop owners how long a particular operation on a particular vehicle should take, and therefore what to estimate for it. This then drives the shop managers to get the work done at least as fast as the FRM says, and ideally, even faster. The work gets done quicker and the profit margin is higher.

Those of you who do a lot of their own work will probably agree that taking your time, being careful, not rushing things and the old "measure twice, cut once" rules generally yield the best results. And that's just not the way most dealership service departments and independent shops are set up.

When you find a place that is more careful, whether by recommendations from like-minded enthusiasts, or by pure dumb luck, hang on to them. But it's a mistake to think that a problem of the magnitude you describe at a dealership or shop is an isolated incident and that things will be okay "the next time". You're dreaming. Better to spend the time finding an alternative place to have your work done than expend the energy and anguish going through the same crap over and over again, hoping a bad shop is somehow going to get better.

babylou

I cannot imagine any mechanic not being able to R&R an anti-roll bar. Six fasteners. How can this guy be employed?

kbull

This is the kind of thing that's good to propagate to others, especially the more naive types (such as myself). I would tend to assume that dealers know what they're doing, and that you'll get top-notch service if you're paying their rates. I suppose now I'll check the whole car over every time it's in there, even if it's just for an oil change or whatever. And I'll probably start doing those myself, too. It sucks that this can happen to anybody, and that most places of business are so bottom-line driven that they'll lose business by scaring off potential repeat customers. Ironic that they're so into making money that they forget how to do it.

cortc

This is very sad; the Mazdaspeed suspension install is one of the easiest jobs...

grogiefrog

Wow! That's big. Congratulations... you deserve it.

picosrx8

Good for you G of T! However, I cannot believe you are even thinking of letting them touch your new car. Take your mods off the old car and get the hell out of there!!!!!!

beachdog

Sounds like we all need to bring digital cameras to the service write-up areas and take pictures in the presence of the service writer and then have them write on the service order that the car was scratch and dent-free when it was brought in.

Nubo

Man, if they DO damage your NEW car, how are you going to feel? Let's face it, so far their batting average is not so hot. I'd keep them on the bench.

BillK

If you ever get Kelley Blue Book value for a trade-in, you're paying way too much for your vehicle.

Kelley Blue Book values are, simply put, almost a myth and certainly no dealer actually pays them without making up the money somewhere else in the transaction.

Your used car is worth what is known as "Black Book" or wholesale value, or what it could bring at an auto auction. This amount varies, but is typically whatever the "trade in" value is reported at kbb.com minus 10%. If you can, try and find someone who can look up what your used vehicle is worth based on Manheim auction values; most people are shocked at how far off KBB is.

So for example, if kbb.com says the Kelley Blue Book trade-in value for your car is $10,000, you shouldn't expect more than $9,000 or you're paying too much for the new car you're trading your old vehicle for.

(And frankly, with all Jeeps, you should never pay more than invoice and you should still get all your rebates on top of that; there are just too many dealers who will sell Jeeps for factory invoice without so much as a second phone call to pay more...)

I'm certainly not trying to defend any dealer practices here, but I also know that if you ever expect to actually receive KBB values on a trade you're either going to overpay for your new car or are getting shafted on financing or lease money values...

Charles R. Hill

iTrader: (7)

Here's the scoop on why dealers' mechanics are typically inexperienced. 20 years ago I won a full ride to an automotive tech school in the Detroit area. I won it in a drag racing event sponsored by the school, itself. The reason I was able to win the scholarship was because I already had a college-level automotive education from my high school. During my three years of study in high school I learned all of very same things which are taught at the colleges. When I took a tour of the facility after I won the scholarship, I had a chance to talk to some of the students. The students were at various levels throughout the process. Some also decided to specialize in certain areas over others. What I discovered during this walk-through was, for the most part, two things. First, the people attending these courses knew far less about automotive mechanics than I did. Second, the first place that a graduate of these colleges gets placed upon graduation is at a dealership. Now, this is not to say that all dealers' mechanics are ignorant or inept. However, the solution is to make sure your car gets assigned to an older, more seasoned veteran at the dealer. Even with this we must still remain knowledgeable on our own because nobody knows or cares as much about our cars than we do. I regularly talk with my dealers' people to make sure they are up-to-speed on the latest news. Ya see, what we do for fun they do for a living. Do ya think sex for a porno star is the same as it is for the rest of us? On my next trip I will share the history of the re-flash as explained in RX Tuner magazine. It seems the dealer doesn't know as much as we enthusiasts about the RX-8.

Charles

Wurmfist

I had almost the same exact problem. I got the "we owe" statement. I brought my car back in next week and they said that it would take an hour, so three hours later the service manager came out to the break room and told me that they had to do some recalls (without telling me there would be extra wait time) and that they scratched up my black molding around the stereo and that they had a guy coming in tomorrow to fix it and I would have to get a rental. Well there was nothing for it but to get the rental and what was supposed to be an hour turned into three days. But at least they claimed ownership of the problem and fixed it.